ArticleThe Lancet regional health. Europe2021
Factors associated with deaths due to COVID-19 versus other causes: population-based cohort analysis of UK primary care data and linked national death registrations within the OpenSAFELY platform.
Article in The Lancet regional health. Europe, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Are Pre-Hospitalization ECG Abnormalities Associated With Increased Mortality in COVID-19 Patients? A Quantitative Systematic Literature Review.Annals of noninvasive electrocardiology : the official journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc · 2024Pooled it
- Risk of COVID-19 death for people with a pre-existing cancer diagnosis prior to COVID-19-vaccination: A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Associations of diabetes, hypertension and obesity with COVID-19 mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2023Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Inpatient Mortality Associated With Nosocomial and Community COVID-19 Exposes the Vulnerability of Immunosuppressed Adults.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Pooled it
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece, 2020-January 2023: An Analysis Based on National Digital COVID-19 and Vaccination Registries.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Circulating cholesterol fuels SARS-CoV-2 replication via ORF3a.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient follow-up among people living with HIV retained in care at a University Center in Brazil.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2026Article
- Trends and demographic inequalities in mortality of the Lithuanian population during the COVID-19 pandemic: who suffered most?Population health metrics · 2025Article
- Inequalities in all-cause mortality by ethnicity in the United Kingdom: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Article
- Household crowding and mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among adults: Findings from longitudinal population surveillance data in rural and peri-urban settings in Limpopo, South Africa.Population health metrics · 2025Article
- Comparative Evaluation of Risk of Death in Mechanically Ventilated Patients With COVID-19 and Influenza: A Population-Based Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine research · 2025Article
- Article
- Role of Metabolic Syndrome Traits on Infectious Diseases: A Mendelian Randomization Study.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Budget Impact Analysis of Remote Healthcare Delivery for Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus Management in Thailand.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2025Article
- The impact of alternative care pathways adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of non-communicable diseases at a tertiary care hospital in Thailand.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Does timing of tocilizumab administration affect mortality in COVID-19? A Scottish multicentre retrospective cohort study.BMJ open respiratory research · 2024Observational
- Comparison of fatalities due to COVID-19 and other nonexternal causes during the first five pandemic waves : Results from multiple cause of death statistics in Bavaria.Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Article
- High Prevalence of Diabetes Among Hospitalized COVID-19 Minority Patients: Data from a Single Tertiary Hospital.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic disparities in risk perceptions and precautionary actions against COVID-19 among the working age population aged 18-59 in Japan: a cross-sectional study.BMJ public health · 2024Article
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
27 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMortality from COVID-19 shows a strong relationship with age and pre-existing medical conditions, as does mortality from other causes. We aimed to investigate how specific factors are differentially associated with COVID-19 mortality as compared to mortality from causes other than COVID-19.
methodsWorking on behalf of NHS England, we carried out a cohort study within the OpenSAFELY platform. Primary care data from England were linked to national death registrations. We included all adults (aged ≥18 years) in the database on 1
findings17,456,515 individuals were included. 17,063 died from COVID-19 and 134,316 from other causes. Most factors associated with COVID-19 death were similarly associated with non-COVID death, but the magnitudes of association differed. Older age was more strongly associated with COVID-19 death than non-COVID death (e.g. ORs 40.7 [95% CI 37.7-43.8] and 29.6 [28.9-30.3] respectively for ≥80 vs 50-59 years), as was male sex, deprivation, obesity, and some comorbidities. Smoking, history of cancer and chronic liver disease had stronger associations with non-COVID than COVID-19 death. All non-white ethnic groups had higher odds than white of COVID-19 death (OR for Black: 2.20 [1.96-2.47], South Asian: 2.33 [2.16-2.52]), but lower odds than white of non-COVID death (Black: 0.88 [0.83-0.94], South Asian: 0.78 [0.75-0.81]).
interpretationSimilar associations of most individual-level factors with COVID-19 and non-COVID death suggest that COVID-19 largely multiplies existing risks faced by patients, with some notable exceptions. Identifying the unique factors contributing to the excess COVID-19 mortality risk among non-white groups is a priority to inform efforts to reduce deaths from COVID-19.
fundingWellcome, Royal Society, National Institute for Health Research, National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, UK Medical Research Council, Health Data Research UK.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.